As members of the Montgomery County Board of Education, we applaud County Council President Evan Glass for his recent op-ed bringing attention to the immense needs in our school system and the central role that transparency plays in school budget development and oversight. We agree that budgets are moral documents that reflect our shared values.
We, however, affirm that the Board of Education and school system operate with the accountability necessary to fulfill our oversight responsibilities.
In MCPS, our books are open, we are complex, but we are transparent. The school system has a multi-layered accountability structure to report its fiscal standing to the state, County Council and county government.
Here are some of the mechanisms:
- Audits from the Maryland State Department of Education
- Multiple reports from independent external auditors
- Council’s Office of Legislative Oversight
- Detailed monthly and annual financial reports sent to the Board of Education, the County Executive and the County Council
Most importantly, we are accountable to the taxpayers, parents, students and communities across this great county. Everything we do is based on the Board of Education’s strategic plan, which outlines the metrics for student achievement and wellbeing. Internally, we have upgraded a formal evaluation system that helps determine program effectiveness – whether to continue, stop or proceed with caution. There is also continuous program monitoring to systematically look for early signs of success, warnings, and the need for course correction.
A school system is, by nature of the work, a people business. To recruit, train, grow and retain the best and the brightest, our people represent the majority of what the budget funds. After we staff our schools, the budget funds critical systemwide operations and one of Maryland’s smallest central office administrations. The Board of Education is responsible for allocating these resources, and we take this job very seriously.
With board oversight, the system has been doing this well for decades – winning awards year after year. The Government Finance Officers Association’s Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting has been won for the last 18 years. The school system has won the Association of School Business Officials International’s Certificate of Excellence in Financial Reporting for the last 41 years.
Given this proven track record, we find it curious that an excellent school system with a highly diverse, all-female Board of Education (with the exception of the student member), duly elected by the residents of Montgomery County, led by the first appointed African American female superintendent, now somehow needs greater oversight and accountability for the management of its budget, spending and operations.
School system budgets are about far more than money. Education is at an inflection point that requires a unified commitment like never before to help students reach their full academic potential.
To do that, we must ensure that every dollar is being used to support their success. We call on our elected leaders to collaborate with us to position our students for academic success. This will benefit all of us here in Montgomery County and is essential to the livelihood of our future economic vitality.
The Montgomery County Board of Education is the official educational policy-making body in the county. The Board is responsible for the direction and operation of the public school system and provides leadership and oversight for a high-quality educational system with community-supported goals, policies, and resources committed to benefit our growing and diverse student population.
The members of the Board of Education are President Karla Silvestre, Shebra L. Evans, Lynne Harris, Grace Rivera-Oven, Rebecca Smondrowski, Brenda Wolff, Julie Yang and Student Member of the Board Arvin Kim.
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